


King of the Clouds

by theinvisiblesideuniverse



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen, Post-Episode: s02e12 You Are Not Your Own, Post-Magnus Bane & Valentine Morgenstern Body Swap, Tessa Gray is awesome, Tessa is there because I missed her in the series, Title from King of the Clouds by Panic! At the Disco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-20 06:55:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19987963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinvisiblesideuniverse/pseuds/theinvisiblesideuniverse
Summary: After the bodyswap with Valentine, Magnus is in pressing need of a little silence, leaves New York for a few hours and meets an old friend who is able to help him cope.





	1. Chapter 1

New York was loud, that much has always been clear to the High Warlock of Brooklyn and it didn´t bother him the slightest. He loved the _life _the City seemed to send out in every direction just like a heart that every Citizen was connected to.__

__Well it didn´t bother him up until now. Now the City´s energy was brushing against the sharp edges of his upset magic roughly in a way that was downright irritating, making his patience run thin, as he desperately tried to keep the control over the azure tendrils that wanted to spill from his hands, turn red and burn down those who harmed the Warlock._ _

__Magnus snapped out of his thoughts to try and pay attention to the conversation some new Shadowhunter in the Institute tried to hold with him but just couldn´t keep it together._ _

__“I have an important appointment with a client, so if you´ll excuse me.“, he left the dumbstruck Nephilim in the Hallway, not waiting for an answer.  
The building shook once. Magnus stopped dead in his tracks, frozen and felt some of the Shadowhunters in the room stare at him, varying emotions displayed on their faces._ _

__Another quake and Magnus created a portal right behind himself, stepping through it backwards._ _


	2. Chapter 2

Silence.  
Silence and shockingly cold air flooded the Warlock´s lungs. Breathing in heavily, he snapped the portal closed and let go.

His magic curled around Magnus like a violent tornado, colours ranging from a cool azure to a threatening crimson, both blending together from time to time, creating a muddy purple. Magnus slowly walked forward, slightly calmer now, because he was able to give up his iron like control on his magic without having to fear harming someone. The magical storm shifted with his movement, building up behind him like a protective barrier, crimson slowly fading, melting back into a dark blue.

Sitting down on the cliff´s edge, he was confused for a moment. Why was the sunrising? Time shift between the US and Europe, was the answer he gave himself. Sometimes he forgot stuff like that, especially on unplanned trips like this one.

The cliff he sat on was so high up, that Magnus could look down on the clouds easily, smiling at the constantly moving mass of cotton. In the early morning light, they resembled a sea of flames.  
He stopped smiling, suddenly painfully aware of the fire burning under his skin, a fire strong enough to wipe out cities.  
He did it once. Burned his hometown down after a nightmare of his mother´s death plagued his 10 year old self.

Fueled by his anger, the crimson was rising up again, now slowly drowning out the azure, starting to leave scorch marks on the ground. An angry swipe of his right hand made the clouds below his feet move, letting him see the green plaines of fields and forests.  
Feeling his anger cool down after using his magic, Magnus continued to move the clouds, directing them from side to side like a conductor and shaping them into fantastic shapes. With a numb feeling in his chest, he thought abaout the harm that he could inflict on others so easily with just a snap of his fingers.  
Valentine could have wiped out entire armies in his body.  
That particular thought exploded the dragon Magnus shaped a few minutes ago, creating a picture of raining flames, as the clouds were still colored by the rising sun.

The Warlock must gave sat there for hours because the once fiery red of the clouds turned to a beautiful shining gold until the sun colors them a pure silver-white.

The protective barrier of magic had almost dissipated along with his anger and fear , only some loose azure tendrils flaoted lazily around Magnus now.

Then a portal opened.


	3. Chapter 3

His magic flared, turning a wicked red again, ready to defend, easily shattering any control he build up in the last hours.  
Delicate hands caught his forearms and steadied him, following him to the ground while whispering calming nonsense.

The other carefully pushed against his upset magic with their own, the touch soothing like cold water, their energies tangling and recognizing the other as the old friends they were.

No threat.  
Tessa.  
The older warlock relaxed, both in body and magic, the pulsing energy less crimson now but still not his usual calm blue.

“I´ve never seen someone with purple magic, Magnus“, said his friend with a light chuckle in her voice before turning serious:"Catarina send me, she felt your magic lash out a few hours ago and got worried. Magnus what happened?“

No response, not even a sign that her friend heard her.  
Then:“How do you know you´re in control? The people you turn into... are you never afraid of getting lost?“, came the mumbled response, voice breaking as memories flashed through his mind like lightning, after being ignored and pushed down for almost a week now.

If Tessa was confused by his questions she concealed it with ease and answered in an equally quiet voice as her friend so as not to startle him:“I was, in the beginning. Terrfied actually. But with time I learned that no matter who I was, I was still myself, just in a different skin. They will stay with me, sure, but...“, she hesitated, to find the right words, because she felt how important her next words would be for Magnus´ peace of mind, by the way he was tensing in her arms almost imperceptibly:“But I view them like any other part of my past, maybe not always pretty, but first and foremost, gone. It´s in the past and that‘s how I try and treat them when they do haunt me.“

Magnus pulled back from Tessa‘s embrace to look at her with a shockingly blank face, studying her face with his glimmering cat eyes. Nervously she pushed a stray strand of her brown hair back behind her ear. Worried she messed up her explaination she hesitantly asked again:

"What happened?“


	4. Chapter 4

Magnus sighed and turned back around to resume his position on the cliff´s edge, waiting for Tessa to join him. Tessa waited patiently while playfully shoving a loud around, until she heard a chuckle coming from her friend and looked up to see him displaying a small but fond smile on his face although it faded quickly.

“Azazel swapped my body with Valentine´s.“, said Magnus rushed and quietly. Tessa whipped her head around to look at him again, shock and surprise clear on her delicate features.  
“He walked around in my body. I was locked up in his cell. I was tortured.“, he said it in a carefully neutral tone, like reciting facts, talking about something that he heard about. Tessa´s eyes were drawn to the other warlock´s hands when he started to rub over his left forearm, seemingly without even being aware of the action.

“Why are y...“

“I needed some space to calm down, New York felt a little too hectic today.“, came the answer before Tessa could finish her question. She knew Magnus though, so she knew that a little stress wouldn´t make him snap like that and given what her friend just told her, it was glaringly obvious how much the body-swap truly got to him. Now the true meaning behind his questions dawned on her. 

“He´s gone, Magnus. You´re alone in your body, he´s got no control over you, okay?“, she said it in a calm but urgent tone.

Magnus looked up, surprised by her response as it didn´t fit his answer to her unfinished question. He lowered his gaze back towards the clouds they were both playing around with and sighed heavily:"I know, but that doesn´t make it any less disturbing,“, he paused:"Alec didn‘t recognize me, even though I told him things only I could‘ve known. Has this ever happened to you?“


	5. Chapter 5

Tessa didn´t turn away from Magnus, instead her eyes got a far away look, clearly looking at something long gone. Blinking, she snapped out of it.  
She finally felt like she could help her friend better, because now she understood a bigger part of the things that tormented Magnus.  
“Of course it happened that I wasn´t recognized, sometimes by my loved ones too, but I can´t say that it ever happened in a situation like yours, where reconition was vital.“, she paused, no wanting to hurt her friend further,"I try to not take it personally when people don´t recognize me, I mean I do seem to be another person and they usually don´t have any reason to trust that person.“

They both fell silent, caught in their own little worlds. Taking a deep breath, Magnus spoke up again, after processing what his younger friend just said:"Logically, I know that it really wasn´t Alec´s fault. Valentine probably could have gotten his hands on some information about our relationship, so Alexander tried to do the right thing by not letting my words get to him... and there are also our friends, they probably shut him down, if he even did voice any concerns.“, at this, bitterness crept into the warlock´s voice. _He was just a downworlder afterall. _He noticed that his magic didn´t react to his mood now, instead it finally stayed in its usual azure tone. _It it still occupied by my little cloud games _, he realized."I just don´t get how he couldn´t see that somethig was wrong when he went home to see me, Valentine must have acted different. It hurts to think that Alec doesn´t know me at all...“____

__

“Have you talked to Alec? No? Do it when we get back then. Come on, it´s getting cold up here and your nephilim is probably worried sick by now.“  
Tessa let her hold on the clouds go, stood up and pulled her friend along with her, holding onto his shoulders.  
“I know that time is a funny thing for us immortals sometimes, but to Alec it has been barely two months since you met, Magnus. It´s still very new, so don´t be so hard on the both of you.  
You both need to talk it out. And talk to me too, please, it has been way to long Magnus“, said the brown haired with a warm smile. 

Filled with some kind of hope for the first time in a week, Magnus nodded and answered Tessa´s smile equally as warm. As he watched the female warlock create a portal, he put on his glamour to hide his warlock mark but shook his head the next moment. No more hiding.  
Although facing everything back in New York threatened to drag his mood back down, he was able to fight it now. Thanks to his brilliant friend, he understood it now and despite that obviously not healing the wounds Azazel´s actions left on his soul, he felt lighter than before.  
It was gonna be okay, he knew it. 

Now stepping through Tessa´s portal, Magnus too released the clouds.  
He may be able to create a whole kingdom for himself up there, but it was New York where he belonged. 


End file.
